Wednesday, September 30, 2015

D'Arcy believes Sam Burgess never had the time to be ready. Photograph: Billy Stickland

Former Ireland and Leinster centre Gordon D'Arcy has branded England's Sam Burgess performance against Wales as naive in his column for the Irish Times.

Brian O'Driscoll's long time centre partner knows a thing or two about about playing centre at the highest level and wasn't shy about pointing out the League convert's deficiencies.

"Burgess lacks the sense of timing, in attack and defence, required to be effective at international level. His naivety embarrassed those around him and severely damaged England’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals."

In the article, the recently retired D'Arcy states that it took him three years to adjust to the position after he moved from being a back three player at Leinster: "I only started playing centre in 2004. It took until the 2007 World Cup before I felt properly attuned to the nuances of the position and comfortable playing Test matches in the 12 jersey.

"Sonny Bill Williams had a daily tutorial from Tana Umaga – one the greatest centres ever – for two years at Toulon before returning to New Zealand and winning his first cap."

He also says that the 6'5, 18 stone former Rabbitohs standout was predictable in attack and never got into the pace of the game.

"All Burgess did was run straight in search of collisions with Jamie Roberts (who obliged but really conned him most of the time)."

The article was not just a broadside attack and goes into some detail about where Burgess has gone wrong.